Plethora of peculiar stage stuff at New Orleans Fringe Festival

"When I first thought about a New Orleans Fringe Festival, I thought we would take maybe four venues on St. Claude Avenue and do a few offbeat theater performances at each, " said New Orleans Fringe Festival artistic director Dennis Monn.

"But then I got to talking with Kristen Evans, who became the festival's executive director and we started researching these festivals. The project just grew. We had a tremendous application response, because who doesn't want to come to New Orleans?"

'Stripped! Naked in a New World, ' metaphorically and physically are, from top to bottom, Jennifer Pagan as a Chilean mama, Francine Segal as an Arabic Jew and Diana Shortes as the Baroness Pontalba, in a triptych stage show Nov. 14, 15 and 16 at the Marigny Theatre, part of the New Orleans Fringe Festival.

"Our goal was to create this critical mass of madness, " Evans said, "which is what a fringe festival is all about. The more performers and groups that wanted to come meant more venues."

And so the four-day festival, which begins Thursday and extends through Nov. 16, is scheduled to include more than 40 groups and 100 performances at 16 locations all over town, but mostly in Bywater, Marigny and French Quarter.

"Both Kristen and I had worked at the Backyard Ballroom theater (on St. Claude Avenue), but had never met, " Monn said. "It was perfect timing. We had all these small, underground theater groups popping up in New Orleans and Prospect.1 happening, and we just went for it."

But is a local fringe festival needed? Isn't the annual DramaRama at the Contemporary Arts Center a fringe festival unto itself?

"I don't think in terms of 'Is something needed?' " Monn said. "I think in terms of 'Wow! Wouldn't this be fun?' I've been part of DramaRama for years and it provides a great opportunity to present your work. But after awhile, it's like, 'Damn! We did all this for just one performance?' And while you're doing your thing, you can hear people in the halls and belly-dancer music and you're lucky if you get to see four or five things in one night.

"With the Fringe Festival, each group gets to perform two or three times, so more people have a chance to experience more theater. And it's a festival; it's festive! It's wild!"

Francine Segal as an Arabic Jew

Funding for the Fringe Festival came first with a $2,000 CAC grant.

"Ben Moren is the third figure in our triumvirate, " Evans said. "He did a lot of grant work for us and the recruiting of volunteers. This is very much a group effort."

Monn said that $15,000 was raised with support coming from the Arts Council of New Orleans, the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Whole Foods Market and The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Foundation. Local bed and breakfast operations offered "great discounts" for artists coming in from such places as Albuquerque, N.M.; Austin, Texas; Baltimore; Dallas; Milwaukee; and New York City. Each group paid $25 to participate.

"There were over 80 submissions, " Monn said, "and 15 were juried and 15 were chosen in a lottery, literally names drawn from a hat, because we wanted a fair representation of all sorts of performers."

The rest of the attractions are local events that chose to be part of the festival, such as Le Chat Noir's seventh annual New Plays Festival.

So whether your tastes run from the locally amazing "Flight" from ArtSpot Productions and Mondo Bizarro and Aurora Aerial Acts at the North Rampart Community Center to "Sex Crimes" cabaret at the Marigny Theatre to "Rebuilding Appalachian Spring" by the New Resonance Orchestra at the new Candle Factory venue at N. Robertson and Japonica streets, there's something for just about everybody, including free puppetry and a one-ring circus for kids at the festival tent headquarters at Press and Dauphine streets.

"We're already thinking about next year, " Monn said, "and planning to choose the three most popular shows, from audience attendance and response, to bring back in the spring."

"There's no way, " Evans said, "that we're going to inflict this insanity on New Orleans just once."

Diana Shortes as the Baroness Pontalba

NEW ORLEANS FRINGE FESTIVAL

What: Unusual theater, dance, cabaret, music, circus, spoken word, multi-media, performance art, puppetry, storytelling and all manner of creative madness performed by more than 40 groups from New Orleans and beyond.

Where: More than 16 locations, mostly in the Bywater, Marigny and French Quarter. A schedule and list of sites is available at www.nofringe.org. Also, check the special events and music calendars in Lagniappe.

When: Thursday through Nov. 16. Event times vary.

Tickets: $7 for each event, plus a one-time purchase of a $3 festival button. Five-show pass for $30. Buy tickets at www.nofringe.org or at the festival tent at Press and Dauphine streets, next to XO Gallery.